RWANDAIR SET FOR JUBA AND DOUALA LAUNCH
After already announcing Accra as their next destination in their current inflight magazine INZOZI, has RwandAir, the national carrier of Rwanda and one of Africa’s fastest growing airlines, now announced the launch of direct flights from Kigali to two additional new destinations. Douala and Juba will be joining the growing list of destinations from the airline’s hub in Kigali over the next few months.
The flights to Accra / Ghana Accra will operate five times a week and Douala will be served four times a week. Both flights conveniently leave Kigali in the afternoon, whereas the return flight for Kigali leaves the following morning. Boeing 737-700NG or B737-800NG aircraft will be used on the route, offering both Business and Economy Class service and attractive market promotion and introduction fares will be made available for bookings from next week. Both of these new destinations, Accra and Douala, will launch on June 1st. The two cities will join Brazzaville, Libreville and Lagos, making RwandAir’s West African destinations a true ‘handful’.
A month later, on July 1st , will Juba, the capital of South Sudan be added to the network and will initially be served three times a week with the recently acquired brand new CRJ900NextGen regional jets. Departure from Kigali is at 9:45 a.m. and the return flight from Juba to Kigali will take off at 13:00 hrs, South Sudan time.
All new flights offer excellent connectivity into the entire RwandAir network, now consisting of 16 destinations. In a statement to the press, RwandAir CEO John Mirenge said: ‘A new schedule, effective June 1st, allows us to expand, add new destinations and develop our airline and Kigali airport as transit hub. We will be welcoming many more visitors to Rwanda’.
Notably does the announcement coincide with the end of Rwanda’s national development conference where 200 national leaders came together to strategize how to achieve a double digit economic growth in coming years, and needless to say, tourism, and as manifested here, aviation will clearly be in the centre of things.
The airline’s Commercial Director, Bert van der Stege added to his CEO’s remarks when he said: ‘With the replacement of older Boeing 737-500’s by the Boeing 737-700 NGs and the re-design of our current pattern of operations, we are able to enhance the efficiency of our network. Improving connectivity is key for us to attract more passengers. The new schedule will have a very positive impact on our passenger numbers and revenue’.
RwandAir has over the past three years seen impressive growth. In the year 2012, RwandAir carried 67 % more passengers and enjoyed a 60 % increase in revenue vs. 2011, despite no increase in capacity. This year the focus is on fleet renewal with new CRJ900s and B737-700s joining the fleet and the implementation of a new hub structure at Kigali Airport.
RwandAir has made an impact on African travelers for conveniently connecting them through Kigali International Airport. Still relatively small in size, the compact airport and the airline are able to provide seamless transfers and a much more personalized service than is the case in elsewhere in the region. This makes connecting through the heart of Africa on RwandAir an excellent alternative for African passengers from Southern, Western and Eastern Africa, compared to some of the bigger and busier airports in the region.
RwandAir for sure is going places as is the entire country, known as The Land of the Thousand Hills. Watch this space for breaking and regular news from Eastern Africa’s vibrant aviation scene.
